Story highlights

85% say that the nation is sharply split

A slight majority want to end the Electoral College

(CNN)After a bruising presidential election featuring the two least liked major-party candidates in recent history, more than 8-in-10 Americans say the country is more deeply divided on major issues this year than in the past several years, according to a new CNN/ORC poll. And more than half say they are dissatisfied with the way democracy is working in the US.

The poll's findings, released Sunday, also suggest a sizable minority personally agree with both parties on at least some issues, and nearly 8-in-10 overall hope to see the GOP-controlled government incorporate some Democratic policies into its agenda.

The public is evenly split on whether single-party control of government -- with Republicans at the helm in both the White House and Congress -- is good or bad for the country, with 49% on each side of that question. Almost 8-in-10, however, say the Republicans should make an effort to include Democratic policies in any legislation they pass rather than sticking to a GOP-driven agenda.

And most say they would like to see President-elect Donald Trump, who won with an Electoral College majority despite trailing in the popular vote nationwide, pursue policies that could draw in new supporters rather than appeal solely to those who backed him during the campaign. Less than half, 40%, say that Trump's win means he has a mandate to pursue the agenda his supporters favor, while 53% say that since he didn't win the popular vote, he should get behind an agenda that might attract new supporters.

The push for bipartisanship is less intense than the last time a single party controlled both houses of Congress and the White House in 2008.

The percentage in the CNN/ORC poll saying Republicans ought to incorporate Democratic policies into their agenda is lower than the percentage who thought the Democrats ought to do the same in 2008 when they took control of the White House and both houses of Congress. That's largely because Republicans now are less likely to think their party's leaders ought to work with the Democrats than Democrats were in 2008 to say that their leaders should bring in GOP policies (55% of Republicans say so now vs. 74% of Democrats who said so in '08).

In the wake of a surprising election night loss, Democrats express greater dissatisfaction with the way democracy in the US is working than do Republicans (63% of Democrats are dissatisfied vs. 47% of Republicans), but some of the Republican Party's core supporters express deeper dissatisfaction than the GOP as a whole.

Among white evangelicals, 60% say they are dissatisfied, 62% of rural Americans say the same, and whites without college degrees, a typically GOP-leaning group which broke heavily for Trump in the recent election, are broadly dissatisfied (61% vs. 52% among whites who hold college degrees).

The sense that the country is sharply riven is near universal, with 85% saying so overall, including 86% of independents, 85% of Republicans and 84% of Democrats. It's also sharply higher than it was in 2000 when the nation last elected a president who did not win the popular vote (64% thought the nation more sharply split then).

The share who see deeper divides now tops 8-in-10 across gender, racial, age and educational divides. The biggest difference on the question comes across ideological lines, with 91% of liberals saying the country is more divided on top issues compared with 80% of conservatives.

Still, majorities of Americans say there are at least some issues where each party, the President-elect and the current president share their views. And there is some overlap in those groups across parties. About a third of Americans (34%) say there are at least some issues where both parties share their views, though only about a quarter say they personally agree with both Trump and President Barack Obama on at least some issues.

Shared views with both parties are more common among independents (43% say they share at least some views with both Democrats and Republicans, vs. 28% of Democrats and 26% of Republicans who say they agree with the opposite party on at least some issues), among men (38% say so vs. 30% of women), and among younger Americans (40% under age 45 say so, vs. 28% among older Americans).

Photos:Donald Trump's rise

Photos:Donald Trump's rise

President-elect Donald Trump has been in the spotlight for years. From developing real estate and producing and starring in TV shows, he became a celebrity long before winning the White House.

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Photos:Donald Trump's rise

Trump at age 4. He was born in 1946 to Fred and Mary Trump in New York City. His father was a real estate developer.

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Trump, left, in a family photo. He was the second-youngest of five children.

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Trump, center, stands at attention during his senior year at the New York Military Academy in 1964.

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Trump, center, wears a baseball uniform at the New York Military Academy in 1964. After he graduated from the boarding school, he went to college. He started at Fordham University before transferring and later graduating from the Wharton School, the University of Pennsylvania's business school.

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Photos:Donald Trump's rise

Trump stands with Alfred Eisenpreis, New York's economic development administrator, in 1976 while they look at a sketch of a new 1,400-room renovation project of the Commodore Hotel. After graduating college in 1968, Trump worked with his father on developments in Queens and Brooklyn before purchasing or building multiple properties in New York and Atlantic City, New Jersey. Those properties included Trump Tower in New York and Trump Plaza and multiple casinos in Atlantic City.

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Trump attends an event to mark the start of construction of the New York Convention Center in 1979.

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Trump wears a hard hat at the Trump Tower construction site in New York in 1980.

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Trump was married to Ivana Zelnicek Trump from 1977 to 1990, when they divorced. They had three children together: Donald Jr., Ivanka and Eric.

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The Trump family, circa 1986.

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Trump uses his personal helicopter to get around New York in 1987.

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Trump stands in the atrium of the Trump Tower.

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Trump attends the opening of his new Atlantic City casino, the Taj Mahal, in 1989.

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Trump signs his second book, "Trump: Surviving at the Top," in 1990. Trump has published at least 16 other books, including "The Art of the Deal" and "The America We Deserve."

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Trump and singer Michael Jackson pose for a photo before traveling to visit Ryan White, a young child with AIDS, in 1990.

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Trump dips his second wife, Marla Maples, after the couple married in a private ceremony in New York in December 1993. The couple divorced in 1999 and had one daughter together, Tiffany.

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Trump putts a golf ball in his New York office in 1998.

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An advertisement for the television show "The Apprentice" hangs at Trump Tower in 2004. The show launched in January of that year. In January 2008, the show returned as "Celebrity Apprentice."

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A 12-inch talking Trump doll is on display at a toy store in New York in September 2004.

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Photos:Donald Trump's rise

Trump attends a news conference in 2005 that announced the establishment of Trump University. From 2005 until it closed in 2010, Trump University had about 10,000 people sign up for a program that promised success in real estate. Three separate lawsuits -- two class-action suits filed in California and one filed by New York's attorney general -- argued that the program was mired in fraud and deception. Trump's camp rejected the suits' claims as "baseless." And Trump has charged that the New York case against him is politically motivated.

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Trump attends the U.S. Open tennis tournament with his third wife, Melania Knauss-Trump, and their son, Barron, in 2006. Trump and Knauss married in 2005.

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Trump wrestles with "Stone Cold" Steve Austin at WrestleMania in 2007. Trump has close ties with the WWE and its CEO, Vince McMahon.

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For "The Apprentice," Trump was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in January 2007.

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Trump appears on the set of "The Celebrity Apprentice" with two of his children -- Donald Jr. and Ivanka -- in 2009.

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Trump poses with Miss Universe contestants in 2011. Trump had been executive producer of the Miss Universe, Miss USA and Miss Teen USA pageants since 1996.

Trump -- flanked by U.S. Sens. Marco Rubio, left, and Ted Cruz -- speaks during a CNN debate in Miami on March 10. Trump dominated the GOP primaries and emerged as the presumptive nominee in May.

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The Trump family poses for a photo in New York in April.

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Trump speaks during a campaign event in Evansville, Indiana, on April 28. After Trump won the Indiana primary, his last two competitors dropped out of the GOP race.

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Trump delivers a speech at the Republican National Convention in July, accepting the party's nomination for President. "I have had a truly great life in business," he said. "But now, my sole and exclusive mission is to go to work for our country -- to go to work for you. It's time to deliver a victory for the American people."

Trump apologizes in a video, posted to his Twitter account in October, for vulgar and sexually aggressive remarks he made a decade ago regarding women. "I said it, I was wrong and I apologize," Trump said, referring to lewd comments he made during a previously unaired taping of "Access Hollywood." Multiple Republican leaders rescinded their endorsements of Trump after the footage was released.

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Trump walks on stage with his family after he was declared the election winner on November 9. "Ours was not a campaign, but rather, an incredible and great movement," he told his supporters in New York.

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Trump is joined by his family as he is sworn in as President on January 20.

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The public also is divided on the two top Republican leaders in Congress, with more holding favorable than unfavorable views of House Speaker Paul Ryan (47% see him favorably, 35% unfavorably), but tilting the other way on Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (39% see him unfavorably, 25% favorably). Both are viewed positively among Republicans, with Ryan outpacing McConnell by 8 points (48% view Ryan favorably, 40% McConnell).

Findings from the same poll released last week found that the President-elect holds a 47% favorability rating overall, with 50% viewing him unfavorably.

Looking back on the election, about half (51%) say the US ought to amend the Constitution so that presidents are elected via popular vote rather than the Electoral College, but 44% would prefer to keep the current system. Support for the status quo is higher than it was in 2000, when the nation last elected a president who did not win the popular vote. At that time, 37% said the Electoral College should stay and 59% favored changing the rules.

And what of the popular vote winner? Americans' views of Hillary Clinton haven't softened post election. Overall, 40% say they have a favorable view of Clinton, and 57% unfavorable. That is her lowest favorability rating since immediately after the GOP convention, and represents the second lowest since her husband was elected president in 1992. Among Democrats, Clinton's favorability rating stands at 79%, down from 86% in late October.

The CNN/ORC Poll was conducted November 17-20 among a random national sample of 1,003 adults. Results for the full sample have a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.